In the early 1960s, Joseph R. McMicking, a American businessman born in the Philippines, arrived in southern Spain with the dream of replicating Makati, a Filipinian golf resort following the Californian style, on the shores of the Mediterranean.

"I can understand why he did it. This area is very beautiful and reminds me of California. It's a fantastic golf course," said American Wyndham Clark, winner of the U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club and competing this week in the Estrella Damm N.A. Andalucia Masters, at the Real Club de Golf in Sotogrande.

"It was a 'Welcome Mr. McMicking,'" said the 83-year-old McMicking's former right-hand man, Jaime Brujó, referring to the title of a Spanish comedy about the frustrated hopes that the Marshall Plan of American aid to Europe after World War II would not elude Spain.

Unlike Marshall, McMicking came to Sotogrande to stay. "He was a member of Cypress Point and wanted to do something similar and big," Brujó recalls of the initial project and the impact on the region.

The American businessman convinced architect Robert Trent Jones to design his first course in Europe and hired about a thousand people from the area to build access roads, hotels, homes and a golf course, in a place "quite removed from civilization," in Brujó's words.

In a 1965 interview, Robert Trent Jones told a Golf Monthly reporter that Sotogrande was certainly one of the most spectacular sites in the world for the construction of a golf course, and the only one with views of two continents. The golf club with 24 members inaugurated a few months earlier changed the life and reality of the Guadiaro River Valley forever.

"A large part of my family and many acquaintances have worked here. Most of the people in the area worked in agriculture and switched to construction, gardening, and golf course maintenance," says the manager of the pro shop, Diego Romero, born in 1964 and with 43 years of employment at the Real Club de Golf de Sotogrande.

In the words of his colleague, José Manuel Barbera, who was also born the same year as the inauguration of the course and has been working at the club for 35 years: "This golf thing moves mountains. For this area, golf has been the biggest economic injection ever. Directly or indirectly, everyone in this region has someone working in the golf industry."

The Real Club de Golf de Sotogrande, which has hosted international stars such as Bob Hope and Bing Crosby, and golf legends such as Argentina's Roberto de Vicenzo, winner of the 1966 Spanish Open, and Severiano Ballesteros, PGA of Spain Champion in 1987, planted the seed for the development of dozens of courses and thousands of jobs in the golf industry in southern Spain.

"My grandfather, my uncle, my father, my cousins, my brother... We have all lived and live from golf. Most people here have a job connected with golf," said Raul Quiros, caddie of Pablo Larrazábal.

All three generations of Quiros were introduced to the world of golf as teenagers at the Real Club de Golf de Sotogrande caddie school, where a schoolteacher taught the youngsters when they were not working on the course.

And several Quiros’ and other boys from the area got to compete professionally thanks to another project by Joseph R. McMicking and Robert Trent Jones, the La Cañada Golf Club, a municipal course with a thriving junior school.

"When you drive through Guadiaro, the most normal thing is to see kids carrying golf bag going up to La Cañada. In the TV at the village bar, as soon as the soccer is over, golf is on," adds Raul Quiros, who teaches golf at La Cañada when he is not traveling around the world.

Six decades later, the Guadiaro Valley and the Real Club de Golf de Sotogrande, now home to the Estrella Damm N.A. Andalucia Masters, with 2,400 members and almost a hundred employees, are still enjoying McMicking's American dream.

To enjoy the event you only need to  purchase tickets for the Estrella Damm N.A. Andalucía Masters, with special prices for federated golfers and free for children under 13, on the event website.

The Estrella Damm N.A. Andalucía Masters, an event in the DP World Tour’s Race to Dubai made possible by the essential contribution of the Real Club de Golf Sotogrande, is sponsored by Estrella Damm and the Consejería de Turismo, Cultura y Deporte de la Junta de Andalucía, jointly funded by the EU and was declared Event of Exceptional Public Interest by the Government of Spain.

Adrián Otaegui took a step toward his goal of defending the Estrella Damm N.A. Andalucía Masters with a second round of 69 (-3) to share the lead on -9 with South African Louis de Jager and Korean-born Frenchman Jeong Wean Ko.

After a birdie start, he stayed patient for fourteen holes until he was rewarded on 16 and 17.

“I’m happy with my day, I’m happy with the way I played. I felt very confident from tee to green. I gave myself lots of birdie chances but not very close. I hit some good putts, didn’t hole many, but happy that I holed a couple on 16 and 17. I’m proud I played very solid from tee to green. Didn’t put myself in too much trouble over the last two days. At the beginning of the round, it was pumping and quite easy to make a silly mistake or to make a bogey. I love playing in Spain and I love playing here. I really feel the support of the crowd and I hope they come more on the weekend, and they’re louder as well,” he said after his round.

Five more home players made the halfway cut (-1): Nacho Elvira (-4), Rafa Cabrera Bello (-3), Adri Arnaus (-2), Jorge Campillo (-2) and Alfredo García Heredia (-1).

As for international players, golf fans and viewers are sure to enjoy watching big names such as Wyndham Clark (-2), Ryan Fox (-2), Robert MacIntyre (-2), y Matt Kuchar (-1), Francesco Molinari (-1), or Thomas Björn (-1) in action at Real Club de Golf Sotogrande over the weekend.

INSIDE THE ROPES

Card-saving round for Lorenzo-Vera

Mike Lorenzo-Vera fired the low round of the day, 65 (-7) at the right time. The Frenchman arrived this week in need of some good results in order to keep his DP World Tour card. And he did just that on Friday.

“It’s horrible to play under card pressure. I knew that I needed many birdies to make the cut and it turned out well, but the pressure was tremendous!”

Having achieved his goal, Sotogrande could provide the perfect setting for his first DP World Tour win.

“I’m a real fan of Spain. I’m happy here although my physical trainer keeps grumbling about the beer and the ham. And these are technical courses which suit me,” he said after climbing to fifth on the leaderboard.

Thomas Bjørn and Alfredo García Heredia never give up

Thomas Bjørn, winning captain of the 2018 Ryder Cup in Paris, birdied his last three holes to make the cut.

“I’m running out of exemption at the end of the year and this was going to be my last event on the exemption. The only thing I was thinking about those last few holes was 28 seasons with a card out here and it was coming to an end. I had to give it a go and see if I could put a nice round together for that.”

Yesterday was awful and it wasn’t much better on the front nine today, but the back nine I picked myself up a bit and I’m happy with the day. It becomes real for you when you’ve been out here for that long and you’re coming to the end of it. I still enjoy being out here, I played with two guys these last two days who are combined younger than I am and that tells a big story.”

“They are the moments you play for. I’ve played over 600 events in my career on this Tour and won 15 times, so that’s a lot of disappointment. You play for those moments when the game gives you those little things back and puts a smile on your face. There are enough times where you walk away from the day, being hard on yourself and a bit down, and over those years, there’s been a lot of that. I take it with a big smile today and look forward to the weekend,” said the happy Dane.”

Alfredo García Heredia, who currently sits 116^th on the Race to Dubai, was in trouble after a triple on 7 and another dropped shot on 9. The Spaniard managed to birdie10-11-12, followed by six vital pars to reach the cut mark and give himself the option of scoring in this penultimate event of the regular season.

To enjoy the tournament you only need to purchase tickets for Estrella Damm N.A. Andalucía Masters, with special prices for federated golfers and free for children under 13, on the event website.

The Estrella Damm N.A. Andalucía Masters, an event in the DP World Tour’s Race to Dubai made possible by the essential contribution of the Real Club de Golf Sotogrande, is sponsored by Estrella Damm and the Consejería de Turismo, Cultura y Deporte de la Junta de Andalucía, jointly funded by the EU and was declared Event of Exceptional Public Interest by the Government of Spain.

To enjoy the event you only need to  purchase tickets for the Estrella Damm N.A. Andalucía Masters, with special prices for federated golfers and free for children under 13, on the event website.

The Estrella Damm N.A. Andalucía Masters, an event in the DP World Tour’s Race to Dubai made possible by the essential contribution of the Real Club de Golf Sotogrande, is sponsored by Estrella Damm and the Consejería de Turismo, Cultura y Deporte de la Junta de Andalucía, jointly funded by the EU and was declared Event of Exceptional Public Interest by the Government of Spain.

Wind was the big challenge on the opening day of the Estrella Damm N.A. Andalucía Masters, especially for the afternoon starters, with gusts of up to 30 mph. Despite these conditions, defending Champion Adrián Otaegui made the most of an early start by carding a flawless six-under 66, two shots behind Englishman James Morrison (-8) and one behind German Nick Bachem (-7).

“It was a very good day from tee to green and I felt very good on the course. I gave myself lots of chances, didn’t miss many shots, didn’t miss many greens. The few greens I missed, I managed to make up and down so it was a very positive day for me.

We had a bit of everything today. The conditions were good for the first four or five holes but the wind was gradually growing. The last nine holes, for the back nine, were getting difficult and it looks like it’s going to keep getting windy in the afternoon,” said Otaegui after his round.

The Spaniard praised the course setup:

“It’s perfect. I found the greens a bit soft at the beginning of the week, but otherwise some pins would be unplayable wit this wind. The grass is excellent on fairways, roughs and greens, so thumbs up for the green keeping team.”

First round leader James Morrison shot a superb eight-under 64 also in the morning.

“I knew the draw was going to be that way and we got more holes in this morning with no wind than we actually thought we were going to get in, so we had to make hay while the sun was shining and I did that. I’m happier now with the wind and the rain starting to pick up on the last hole there.”

The Englishman, a two-time DP World Tour winner, claimed the Open de España in 2015.

“Spain’s been very, very good to me over the last 14 years. I’m guessing it’s the free-pouring gin and tonics that do it for me, which is the main thing, and the ham, obviously. I love coming here, it suits my eye. Most courses inherently aren’t as long as we play on Tour so they’re more positional sort of golf courses.”

World number 10, American Wyndham Clark, carded a two-under 70 in his first round on Spanish soil.

Three more Spaniards finished under par on Thursday: Adri Arnaus (-3), Jorge Campillo (-1) and Rafa Cabrera Bello (-1), both Jorge and Rafa more than pleased to have broken par in the gusty afternoon conditions. 

Play was suspended at 19:21 due to darkness. Players will complete the first round on Friday from 9:10. Tee times for the second round remain unchanged from 8:40 on holes 1 and 10.

INSIDE THE ROPES

Wind and greens challenge Wyndham Clark

Reigning U.S. Open Wyndham Clark, posted a creditable round. World number 10 had to deal with tricky gusts of wind and greens too slow for his liking.

“It was a tough day but shooting two under is a good round for the conditions. Just in the middle part of the round I just really struggled with the wind. I like to think I’m a pretty good wedge player but three wedges I missed the green and two of them I made a bogey and that was all wind-related. It was fair with the windy conditions but for me it was a little slow. I’m used to a little bit faster greens,” said the American after his round.

Campillo and Cabrera Bello beat the course in tough conditions

Both Spaniards have shown their resilience by shooting under par on Thursday afternoon.

“Conditions were on the limit, but I enjoyed my round. The last two or three holes were pretty hard, but it was worse in Scotland with rain on top of it,” said Campillo.

Cabrera agreed: “The Tour has done well not stopping play as the ball barely moved on some occasion. It is true that we got the worst part of the day, but we have played many times with this same wind.”

Real Club de Golf Sotogrande boasts an impressive winners’ list

Besides staging its first DP World Tour event, the Club hosts the prestigious Sotogrande Cup whose winner’s list includes the likes of Rory McIlroy, Shane Lowry or Padraig Harrington.

Winners of the Sotogrande Cup playing the Estrella Damm N.A. Andalucía Masters this week are Francesco Molinari, Julien Brun, Nino Bertasio, Marcel Siem, Guido Migliozzi, Todd Clements and Spanish amateur Jaime Montojo.

To enjoy the event you only need to  purchase tickets for the Estrella Damm N.A. Andalucía Masters, with special prices for federated golfers and free for children under 13, on the event website.

The Estrella Damm N.A. Andalucía Masters, an event in the DP World Tour’s Race to Dubai made possible by the essential contribution of the Real Club de Golf Sotogrande, is sponsored by Estrella Damm and the Consejería de Turismo, Cultura y Deporte de la Junta de Andalucía, jointly funded by the EU and was declared Event of Exceptional Public Interest by the Government of Spain.

- This is the ninth edition of the Estrella Damm N.A. Andalucía Masters since its inaugural edition in 2010.

- Winner list: Graeme Mc Dowell (2010) Sergio García (2011, 2017 y 2018), Christiaan Bezuidenhout (2019), John Catlin (2020), Matt Fitzpatrick (2021) and Adrián Otaegui (2022). 

- The Estrella Damm N.A. Andalucía Masters features 126 competitors and offers $3,750,000 in prize money. This is the biggest purse to date for any DP World Tour event held in Spain.

- DPWTR points: 4,250.

- Defending champion Adrián Otaegui, 30, is ranked 99th in the world and 38th in the DP World Ranking. The Spaniard has four titles to his name with EDAM2022 as his most notable win.

- 27 nationalities across 5 continents are represented in the field: 16 from Europe, 5 from Asia, 3 from America, 2 from Oceania and 1 from Africa.

- The most represented country is Great Britain with 33 players (21 English, 10 Scottish, 1 Welsh, and 1 Northern Irish), followed by Spain with 17.

- Current US Open champion Wyndham Clark is in the field. The American, now ranked 10th in the world, would move up to 9th with a win in Spain. Also in the field  is nine-time PGA Tour winner Matt Kuchar, four-time member of the American Ryder Cup team that lifted the trophy at Hazeltine in 2016

- Also playing in the tournament ̶ in addition to Francesco Molinari, vice-captain at the last Ryder Cup ̶  is Robert MacIntire, member of the winning European team in Rome. The rookie from Scotland went undefeated, scoring 2.5 points in three matches.

- In the field, two Rolex Series winners this season: Victor Perez (Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship) and Ryan Fox (BMW PGA Championship).

- In the field, four two-time winners this season: Adrian Meronk (ISPS Handa Australian Open and DS Automobiles Italian Open), Thriston Lawrence (Investec South African Open Championship and BMW International Open), Ockie Strydom (Alfred Dunhill Championship and Singapore Classic) and Pablo Larrazábal (Korea Championship and KLM Open).

- In the field, other winners this season: Dan Bradbury (Joburg Open), Daniel Gavins (Ras Al Khaimah Championship), Thornbjorn Olesen (Thailand Classic), Marcel Siem (Hero Indian Open), Jorge Campillo (Magical Kenya Open), Matthew Baldwin (SDC Championship), Nick Bachem (Jonsson Workwear Open), Simon Forsstrom (Soudal Open), Tom Mckibbin (Porsche European Open), Dale Whitnell (Volvo Car Scandinavian Mixed), Daniel Hillier (Betfred British Masters), Rasmus Hojgaard (Made In HimmerLand), Daniel Brown (ISPS HANDA World Invitational), Todd Clements (D+D Real Czech Masters) and Matthieu Pavon (acciona Open de España).

- The participants in the Estrella Damm N.A. Andalucía Masters have won 23 titles this season.

- A Spanish winner this week would be Spain’s 206th win in Tour history.

- Two players have scored a hole-in-one in the history of the tournament: Oliver Wilson (2011) and Lorenzo Gagli (2020) both on 12 at Real Club Valderrama.

- In the eight editions held up to date, two albatros have been recorded: Joost Luiten (2017) on 11 and Haydn Porteous (2019) on 17, both at Real Club Valderrama.

- Officially opened in 1964, Sotogrande was the first course RobertTrent Jones Sr. designed in Europe and is blessed with his design philosophy, which consists of building courses perfectly integrated with the natural surroundings which are a great challenge to the better players, but accessible and enjoyable for everyone.

- In its inaugural year, Sotogrande held the Spanish Open won by Argentinian Roberto de Vicenzo. In 1987 it staged the Spanish Professional Championship won by Seve Ballesteros.

- Real Club de Golf Sotogrande is a 6492 metre par 72.

- The course makes its debut as DP World Tour venue this week.

- The Real Club de Golf Sotogrande hosts the prestigious Sotogrande Cup whose winner’s list includes the likes of Rory McIlroy, Shane Lowry, Padraig Harrington or Francesco Molinari, the latter playing this week.

- Other winners of the Sotogrande Cup playing the EDAM2023 this week are Julien Brun, Nino Bertasio, Marcel Siem, Guido Migliozzi, Todd Clements and Spanish amateur Jaime Montojo.

- Also in the field are three runner-ups in the Sotogrande Cup: Romain Langasque, Lukas Nemecz y Carlos Pigem.

- This is the 65th DP World Tour event staged in Andalucía, including the 1997 Ryder Cup.